Gator Alert

SA-29 Facility Access & Maintenance for Safety

PurposeGreen River College is a public institution and, with exception of restricted areas, is accessible to the public during normal business hours. After normal hours of operation, buildings are locked and access is permitted only with proper authorization and identification. Regular maintenance of campus facilities and landscape areas by the buildings is conducted keeping security and safety in mind. However, much of the main campus of Green River College is forested area next to private or other public properties. This forested area is accessible by foot from many directions at any time. While Green River Campus Safety patrols the forested trails, true security is problematic to maintain.

ScopeThe scope of this policy includes all Green River College locations and addresses security, access, and maintenance for purposes of safety.

Policy Green River College is a public institution. It is important to balance public access with safety considerations, thus, campus facilities (with exceptions to restricted areas) are open to the public during normal business hours, and are locked after hours with access permitted only with proper authorization and identification. Green River College maintains campus facilities in a manner that minimizes hazardous conditions, and forested areas on the main campus are patrolled by Campus Safety personnel.

Procedure

Access to and Security of Green River College CampusesAccess and security of the four Green River College campus locations are different, based on location and student use. Two sites (Main Campus and Kent) are staffed by Green River College Campus Safety. Currently the two other sites (Downtown Auburn and Enumclaw), safety issues are referred to the jurisdiction of the local law enforcement agency. When the Downtown Auburn campus moves to the new location, Campus Safety will have staff at that location as well.

Building entrances at all campus sites are secured by magnetic locks during non-business hours. Older buildings without magnetic locks are secured by normal mechanical locks requiring keys. Both Key Card access (for magnetic locks) and Key Access (for mechanical locks) are authorized for each individual employee based on their position functions, supervisor approval, and then granted by Campus Safety and/or Facilities.

When authorized by faculty for purposes of access to specialized educational programs, identified students’ names are placed on a building roster access list which is monitored by Campus Safety. If such a student needs to access a building area after regular business hours, that student will go to the room, connect with Campus Safety, who will check for their name on the roster access list. The student then needs to present valid student ID card with picture, and Campus Safety will let them into the specific authorized room. Campus safety staff will then include that room on their regular patrols to monitor room use.

Video Surveillance CamerasThere are dozens of surveillance cameras are installed in various locations on the main campus and several at the Kent Campus. With these in operation, their monitoring by the Campus Safety Office (and for the Kent Campus, by their assigned Safety Staff) helps ensure safety for our college community. Camera efficacy is assessed annually, andchanges in location or position are made as appropriate. Feeds from cameras are recorded onto campus servers. Campus Safety has access to view and play and/or replay those recordings as appropriate for college security needs.

Security Considerations in Maintaining Campus Facilities at all four campus locationsGreen River College maintains campus facilities in a manner that minimizes hazardous conditions. Walkways are illuminated with lighting and malfunctioning lights and door locks, for example, are reported to Facilities or to Safety. Shrubbery and trees are pruned to allow the walkways to be clear of low or dangerous branches that may impede a person’s path or cause injury.

Security Considerations for specialized areasThere are four specialized areas that have particular security considerations.

Forested area of the Main Campus: For the forested area of the Main Campus, Campus Safety schedules patrols regularly to walk the trails to all edges of the boundaries, including to private property, public property, including the Green River. While patrolled regularly, true security of access to this area is difficult to monitor and challenging to maintain.

Pacific Raceways: For the Main Campus during Fall, Winter, and Spring Quarters, Green River has contracted with nearby Pacific Raceways to utilize their gravel parking lot for excess campus parking. Campus Safety Officers patrol this lot during days/times of use.

Campus Corner Apartments: For Campus Corner Apartments (CCA), there are 12 buildings with outside access for all front doors for all residences. All front doors have metal security stripping along the door frame and automatically lock when closed. Campus Safety staff schedules regular and frequent patrols during the outside and in between each building twenty-four hours/day. Lighting outside illuminates all pathways during night hours, and the landscape is maintained with safety in mind.

Green River Child Care Development Center:For the Child Care Center on the Main Campus, the entrance doors are electronically programmed to open at the start of the business day (6:30 AM) and closed at the end of business day (5:30 pm). Staffing at the reception area is during all open hours, and thus, all people entering and exiting the building are monitored. All visitors are required to sign in/out and wear visitor badges while on the premises.

Security Considerations during Times of Power OutageAll exterior doors that have been fitted with electronic magnetic locks also have battery back-up systems, which have enough life in them for the locking system to remain active and allow key card access. If the power is out over an extended time, then the doors will remain locked, but will not be active nor allow key card access. When the power returns, the systems are coded to revert to their previous working programming.

Blue Light PolesThere are three Campus Safety Blue Light poles located in the Campus Corner Apartment (CCA) residential housing area, and one Blue Light pole located near the Performing Arts Center on the main campus. These poles have a call button that when pressed will contact campus safety. Assessment is done by Campus Safety annually to determine ifadditional Blue Light Poles need to be added.

In Cases of Emergency ClosureIn the case of periods of extended/emergency closure, the college campuses will only admit personnel who are considered essential for maintaining campus operations and for those who have received approval from the president or his/her designee. Those considered essential to campus operations are identified by the College President, CampusSafety and Human Resources.

Periodic SurveysPeriodic safety and security surveys will be conducted by the Director of Campus Safety to review security concerns such as landscaping, fire alarms, lighting, intrusion detection systems, security camera, signage, electronic and manual access control systems, emergency phones (including Blue Light Poles), and other physical security systems. As appropriate, the Director of Campus Safety will meet with Facilities to review/resolve concerns that could raise personal safety risks.

Specific AuthorityThe Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-315—August 14, 2008). This act requires institutions that both participate in any federal higher education programs and maintain on-campus housing to establish policy for reporting and categorizing crimes that are listed in the Jeanne Clery Disclosure and Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (The “Clery Act”). This is enforced by the U.S. Department of Education (ED).